


Surprise

by peanutbutterjelly-pie (Aleakim)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleakim/pseuds/peanutbutterjelly-pie
Summary: _In which Castiel (kinda accidentally) proposes and Dean doesn't know how to deal with it._





	

Dean can't help but smile when he wakes up warm and content in his bed, a barely clothed angel lying at his side.

Granted, it's not a new development but a nearly everyday occurrence for more than a year now, however, Dean isn't able to ever get used to it and he's perfectly okay with that. It's feels as thrilling and exciting as their first morning together when they finally found themselves into each other's arms after all the pain and heartbreak by some miracle (or, more precisely, after a hunt gone wrong and them being incapable of keeping their worries and feelings inside themselves any longer) and Dean allowed himself to think that everything might be alright for once.

“Good morning,” Castiel mutters, nuzzling into the crook of Dean's neck. He sounds drowsy and Dean's heart seizes up listening to his rumbling voice.

Castiel is technically still an angel, but he lost his connection to Heaven a while ago and so some of his powers said goodbye too. He needs to recharge his batteries every so often – most of the time accomplished by sleep and a few hearty meals each week – and although he doesn't seem too happy about all of this he obviously tries to make the best of the situation. At least he likes to demand his favorite food more often than not (and Dean doesn't have enough willpower to refuse him anything) and he always takes charge in bed, manhandling Dean until he's positioned just right for the angel's liking so that Castiel can use him as a pillow or a human radiator.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Dean whispers, treading his fingers through Castiel's hair and smiling brightly when the angel leans into the touch like an eager kitten.

“Do we have anything special planned for today?” Castiel asks, apparently only seconds away from purring.

“No, just eating and relaxing,” Dean replies. “And maybe translating that stupid Greek text Sam found yesterday and can't shut up about. But other than that ...”

Dean really hopes it stays that way. Admittedly, they cut back on hunts for some months now, only taking local jobs that turned out easy enough (especially after you fought Lucifer himself once upon a time). At least they haven't met a demon in quite a while now, apart from Crowley's occasional phone calls, and their lives are at a stage that you could almost call peaceful.

It feels really nice.

So he seriously hopes his Sasquatch of a brother wouldn't barge in any minute now, a tablet in his hand, announcing, “So, check this out ...”

“Maybe we could stop by the library in town today,” Castiel suggests. “I could use some literature that doesn't involve anything supernatural.”

Dean chuckles. Castiel has grown quite fond of crime thrillers, always adorably keen to guess who could be the murderer before the actual revelation. “We can do that.”

“And we should go to bed early today,” the angel continues. “I've read about some interesting sex positions yesterday and I'd like to give it a try.”

Dean chokes on air, his cheeks staring to heat. _Dammit_ , even after all this time Castiel is able to affect him like that with just a few words.

“Cas!” he hisses. “ _Jeez_!”

Castiel drops light kisses onto Dean's neck. “Are you complaining?” he asks teasingly.

Of course not.

Although …

“Why aren't we doing this _now_?” Dean demands to know, shifting a bit and rubbing his leg against Castiel's in a suggestive manner. “What's stopping us?”

“Hunger,” Castiel explains matter-of-factly. “I'm quite famished and I can smell pancakes.”

Dean rolls his eyes, but right at that moment his stomach starts to grumble too. Sam obviously took over breakfast duty this morning since Dean and Castiel once again took way longer to rise and shine than his majesty prefers and the smell is fucking torturous.

“Yeah okay, fine,” Dean gives in. “We'll eat some frigging pancakes, go to the library and after that we'll hide inside this room and traumatize Sam because I've got no desire to be quiet.”

Castiel smiles. “And I have a surprise for you.”

Dean listens up. “A surprise?” he asks. “What is it?”

Castiel kisses him softly. “After breakfast.”

“Aw c'mon, man,” Dean protests. The last “surprise” had been an overlarge bird that somehow took the wrong turn and found itself in the bunker's war room, shitting fucking everywhere and complaining constantly and very excessively, so Dean is not very eager to see a repeat performance or at least something similar.

“I promise you, you will like it,” Castiel says. “I talked with Sam beforehand and he reassured me that it's a good idea.”

Dean huffs. “Fine, as long as there are no more frigging birds.”

“Not more than usual.”

Castiel smiles widely before he presses his lips onto Dean's once again. The kiss is lazy, unhurried. Just freaking perfect.

“I like this,” Castiel whispers after pulling back a bit, his breath ghosting over Dean's skin. “I like waking up with you.”

Damn the stupid angel for getting sappy early in the morning without any breakfast in their bellies and damn Dean's own fucking feelings for loving it so very much.

He pulls Castiel closer, kissing him slow and deep and feeling exhilarated when Castiel starts to make some very needy noises in the back of his throat, most likely recalculating if they seriously need to wait until tonight for some sexy action. Their bodies fit perfectly while they never stop to kiss and touch –

Until suddenly Sam bangs at their door, telling them that breakfast is ready, and the spell is broken. Castiel pulls back instantly and Dean is about to complain, but when he sees the bright grin on the angel's face, obviously looking forward to some tasty meal (and hopefully feeling somewhat happy because of their little make-out-session), the protest gets stuck and instead he says, “I love you.”

Even after months Castiel still seems astonished sometimes hearing those words out of Dean's mouth, so everytime he beams as if he received the most amazing gift ever and answers, with so much emotion in his voice, “And I love you.”

So Dean can't really be blamed for leaning in again and for them showing up spectacularly late for breakfast in the end.

  
  


* * * * *

  
  


“Your pancakes aren't half bad,” Dean says before he shovels some more into his mouth, munching happily.

Sam, who is sitting right across from him at the table, rolls his eyes. “Wow, thanks for the overwhelming praise, Dean. I feel like crying now because those are seriously the most beautiful words I've ever heard.”

Dean just grins in response while Castiel looks back and forth between the brothers and apparently contemplates whether they're serious or not.

In the end he decides to announce, “Your pancakes are really good, Sam. Thank you for sharing them with us.”

Sam smiles gently. “You're very welcome, Cas,” he replies after throwing a reproachful look in Dean's direction that says, _“See how it's done? Some decent manners wouldn't kill you.”_

“Oh, don't think too much of it,” Dean waves him off promptly. “Castiel is just so mellow because he blew off some steam twenty minutes ago. He'd even be polite to Crowley right now.”

Sam pulls a face, mumbling something like “oversharing bastard” underneath his breath, and Dean can't help but feel very pleased with himself.

He'd never had a problem with being open about his sex life. The brothers had lived in close quarters since forever and seen (or heard or even freaking smelt) a few things about each other regular siblings usually don't need to think about too hard. Dean got used to it fairly quickly and in contrast to Sam who still tried to maintain something like privacy once in a while Dean just didn't give a flying fuck, even bragged about his sexual adventures more often than not, always enjoying Sam's annoyed face.

It's not any different with Castiel. From the very first day Dean is totally open about how they spend their private time (and the angel doesn't mind one bit since he never grasped the concept of human decency anyway) and Sam hates every second of it. It's super fun.

And it's certainly payback for Sam's teasing regarding the more emotional aspects of their relationship. He grins like a fucking maniac everytime Castiel takes Dean's hand or shows any kind of affection. A fact that made Dean very uncomfortable in the beginning. He wasn't exactly used to such small things, which seem so harmless and innocent, but are so damned monumental. The first time Castiel touched his hand right in front of Sam Dean flinched back like a frightened animal, not expecting this at all, although, in hindsight, it was really stupid not to suspect something like this beforehand.

It took some time to adapt to all of this. Fortunately Castiel turned out to be understanding and proved to have a lot of patience, obviously happy that Dean even made the effort at all. The angel never rushed, never pressured, and Dean found himself falling for him faster than he ever thought possible.

So in the end it didn't turn out to be much of a hardship to link his fingers with Castiel's or share some simple touches even in front of Sam. So he can't help himself right now but swipe some syrup from the corner of Castiel's mouth and give him a wide (and probably quite sappy looking) smile.

A year ago this would have been nearly impossible for Dean, but by now he couldn't care less. The only thing important is Castiel's positive reaction and nothing else.

“I said it a hundred times before and I will say it again: You two are disgusting!” Sam is obviously determined to appear disapproving, but Dean can see the fondness in his eyes as clear as the day. “I think I'll hide in my room with that Greek text while you – I don't even wanna know, to be honest.”

Dean grins. “Relax, Sammy. We'll drive to the town's library, maybe buy some groceries …”

“And I have a surprise for you!” Castiel interrupts, his posture straightening.

Dean blinks. “Oh yeah, right. Let's get this over with.”

Castiel doesn't seem happy about this attitude. “Don't be so dismissive, Dean. You'll like it.”

Sam nods. “It's what every little boy and girl dreams of.”

Dean eyes them warily, not sure what is supposed to come next. Castiel just smiles, rises from his chair …

… and drops onto one knee right in front of Dean.

Time seems to freeze for a few seconds, hours, maybe even centuries while Dean stares at the angel with wide eyes, absolutely shell-shocked.

Shit. Shit. _Shit_.

He expected a lot of things – perhaps some stupid stray kitten or an annual subscription of _Busty Asian Beauties_ or whatever – but not … not _this_!

Thousand different thoughts are rushing through Dean's head like a high speed train, making him dizzy.

_What the hell? What the_ fucking _hell?_

_Is he seriously proposing?_

_Did he see some lame-ass chick-flick the other day and thought this was a good idea?_

Dean doesn't know what to think, how to react since he never believed he would ever be in a situation like this. All this crap with weddings and marriages had been far too alien for him and he didn't assume he would have to deal with this at some point. Especially with an angel of the Lord as your better half who is more often confused by human **customs** than not.

So why? Why did this bastard think this would be something Dean would want?

And why did Sam obviously encourage him to do so?

And is Castiel honestly proposing in the kitchen, right in front of Sam? Couldn't he have chosen a nicer place?

Maybe in their bed or even in the shower …

Or in some fancy restaurant like the people do in TV all the time.

And _why the fuck_ is his brain even thinking those things?

Dean looks at Castiel, his face probably a train wreck between shock and anticipation, and waits for some stupidly romantic speech about love and devotion and fucking soulmates or whatever.

But Castiel just kneels silently on the floor … and ties his shoelaces.

Dean's jaw drops open and an almost unbearable heat crawls up his neck and cheeks. _Fuck_.

He's never been the smartest and most perceptive guy around, but did he seriously just misinterpret an absolute innocent action? _What the actual fuck_?

In the corner of his eyes he notices that Sam obviously isn't far behind, his eyebrows somewhere hidden underneath his hairline. He looks genuinely surprised, apparently believing that Castiel was proposing for a few seconds as well before reality kicked in.

On the one hand Dean is kinda glad that he's not the only one who misunderstood the whole thing, but on the other hand he seriously didn't need his brother to witness all this. Dean could have lived with the mortification all on his own and forget about it eventually, but with Sam in the picture now …

Dammit.

In the meantime Castiel finally stands up, looking highly oblivious, as he smiles at Dean with bright eyes, grabs something out of one of the cabinets and places it on the table in front of Dean.

And the hunter needs a moment to realize that it's a pie.

“I made it yesterday when you and Sam went out to that bar,” Castiel announces, quite pleased with himself. “I wanted to surprise you when you'd have gotten home, but unfortunately I fell asleep before that. So I needed to postpone.”

Dean stares at the pie, blinking several times. Normally he would have been fucking thrilled and dug in right away, but now he can't even concentrate long enough to remember how a fork works.

“Um …”

“I'm sure it is still palatable,” Castiel says, suddenly a little hesitant. Obviously he's not sure what to make of Dean's reaction – or lack thereof – and probably already starts to wonder if he did something wrong.

So Dean forces a smile on his lips because this is the least he owes the angel after he baked him a _frigging pie_. “It … it looks great, Cas,” Dean answers, wincing a bit because of his croaky voice. “Thank you.”

He knows he's not very convincing, but it's the best he can come up with at this point.

“Are you okay?” Castiel asks, concern in his voice. Apparently even a sometimes oblivious angel is able to detect that something is not entirely right.

“Yeah, Cas,” Dean says and hopes it sounds like the truth somehow. “I just … I think – I need to go to the bathroom.”

And he leaps to his feet and flees out of the room as quickly as possible.

  
  


* * * * *

  
  


Castiel can't help but frown.

He actually thought that Dean would be fairly happy about the angel making the effort to bake a pie for him. Just two days ago he said that he hadn't had a good apple pie in quite a while and so Castiel declared it his mission to change this fact.

Had he been wrong to assume that Dean would like it?

But then why did Sam tell him that it'd be a good idea?

“You don't know what just happened, right?” Sam asks, his eyes narrowed. He shoots a glance in the direction where Dean just disappeared, on odd expression on his features Castiel is not sure he'd ever seen before.

“No,” Castiel admits. “I assumed he would love the pie.”

“Trust me, he does.”

“Then why did he leave?” Castiel tilts his head, musing. “Do you think he is unwell?”

Sam sighs deeply. “I think Dean is just a bit … um, _overwhelmed_.”

Castiel starts to think that he missed something majorly. “Because of the pie?”

Sam shakes his head. “No, just … try to think for a minute how all of this looked. Telling him you've got a surprise for him and then … well, kneeling on the floor.”

Castiel wrinkles his forehead, once again contemplating that humans are unnecessarily complicated sometimes. “I was tying my shoelaces.”

“Yes, I know,” Sam says. “But for a tiny moment it looked like something else.”

Castiel eyes him confused, not sure what the younger Winchester is getting at … and then suddenly it _clicks_.

Castiel widens his eyes.

“ _Oh._ ”

He's seen those particular scenes in a lot of movies before, even in reality a few times when he still had been an angel in Heaven, watching humanity from afar.

“You … you are saying –?”

“It seemed like you were about to propose for a second,” Sam tells him, nodding fiercely. “And well … obviously you overloaded Dean's system.”

The look in Dean's eyes, the flush on his cheeks – no wonder he ran off as quickly as possible.

“I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable,” Castiel states, feeling quite awful all of a sudden. He just wanted to spend a nice day with Dean and obviously he ruined everything without even realizing it. “I should apologize.”

“No, wait,” Sam exclaims immediately and grabs Castiel's wrist. “Before you go, just tell me what you're apologizing for exactly.”

Castiel frowns. “What do you mean?”

“It's just …” Sam takes a deep breath. “I'm not really sure what Dean is upset about, to be honest. The fact that it looked like a proposal for a short moment … or the fact that it _wasn't_ a proposal after all.”

Castiel squints his eyes, not sure what to make of this. Sometimes humans and especially Dean are _indeed_ way too complicated.

“I don't understand …” Castiel pauses and quirks his head to one side. In the last few years he learned more about humanity and their sometimes strange and irrational behavior, especially thanks to the brothers, than in all the millennia before and he had been very eager to make himself familiar with as much potential scenarios as manageable, but not once did he think about taking subjects like marriage into closer consideration.

Neither Dean nor Sam ever really spoke about it, so Castiel never deemed it important enough to pay attention to this specific topic.

Had he been wrong?

“Dean is --” Sam exhales slowly while apparently struggling with finding the right words. “Dean is sometimes not easy to deal with. I mean, you know that better than anyone.” He huffs a laugh. “And marriage – he never allowed himself to think about it. For the most part of his life it wasn't in the cards for him and he got used to that. Laughed when someone brought it up. Till the point where he got himself convinced that he doesn't want it _ever_.”

Castiel finds himself nodding. This sounds exactly like Dean.

“But with you in the picture now --” Sam continues, “I guess he never really took it into account before, simply because, like I said, the whole thing wasn't even on his radar. And then you came along and --” He gives Castiel some kind of half-shrug. “I'm pretty sure that Dean himself doesn't really get why he's freaking out. The whole concept of marriage, settling down – he gave that up a long time ago, buried it somewhere very deep. It's hard to bring it up again.”

Castiel bites his bottom lip and studies Sam intently. “So … you think he actually would want to get married?”

Sam sighs deeply. “I actually don't know, man. It's not like Dean shares his secret wishes or something.” A small smile suddenly appears on his lips. “But I'm quite certain that _if_ he ever considered getting married, it would be because of you.”

Castiel mulls this over in his head very carefully and eventually announces, “I think I need to speak with Dean.”

  
  


* * * * *

  
  


Dean's sitting on the edge of his bed and tries his best not to freak out.

Damn.

Damn.

 _DAMN_!

He knows perfectly well that there's no reason to make such a fuss about the entire thing. Castiel didn't mean anything by it and he probably doesn't even understand the whole concept of marriage to begin with. He's most likely just super confused right now why Dean left him behind like that and yeah, Dean feels like the biggest asshole ever for fleeing after the guy of his dreams made a delicious looking pie only for him, but he simply couldn't help himself.

Some serious emotions were about to burst out of him and it's been just way too much.

And in the end it's so much easier to be a coward than a reasonable adult.

He doesn't know how much time has passed when he hears the bedroom door being opened – whether it's been merely minutes or even freaking hours – and he feels especially worse about the whole deal. He stood up to demons and even fucking Lucifer and now he's here, hiding in his room and forgetting time itself.

Really pathetic!

Castiel deserves so much better.

So when the angel takes places right beside him, looking so gorgeous and like everything Dean ever wished for, Dean immediately blurts out, “I'm so sorry, Cas! I didn't mean to run out on you and act like a piece of shit. I really appreciate the pie, it looked awesome, and --”

He stops when Castiel interlaces their fingers and squeezes his hand reassuringly. “It's okay, Dean.”

Dean ducks his head, avoiding the angel's piercing gaze he usually loves so much. “No, it's seriously not. I was just --”

Dumb. Abject. Irrational. Really fucking stupid.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Castiel, however, seems to disagree. He lifts Dean's chin until they're able to lock their eyes and Dean is barely able to deal with Castiel's warm smile. “Don't beat yourself up over this. Humans react unpredictable sometimes. I got used to it.”

Dean huffs a laugh. It's definitely true, Castiel had his fair shade of crazy people over the years. “I guess so.”

Castiel nods. “Furthermore, Sam explained the situation to me.”

Dean can't help pulling a face. For a moment he feels kinda betrayed, but it's not like he's actually surprised. Sam did what he thought best for them and their relationship and, thinking about it, Dean probably would have done the same in the end. It's not fair to lie to Castiel and leave him in the dark.

Dean swore himself a long time ago that he'd never be that person again.

“Yeah, well …” Dean fidgets uncomfortably. “I misunderstood for a second because I'm an idiot and --” He offers Castiel a half-shrug. “Sorry for confusing you.”

Castiel doesn't seem overly concerned about the last part. Instead he leans closer and says, “Dean, I'm about to ask you an important question, so please don't freak out, alright?”

Dean feels his heartbeat picking up its pace. “Um … alright?”

Somehow Castiel's face turns into something even more serious than Dean had ever witnessed before, even back then with the apocalypse floating over their heads. “Do you want to get married?”

Dean blinks a few times, trying desperately to get the fluttering in his stomach remotely under control. Eventually he croaks, “Are you asking … or _proposing_?”

Castiel chuckles quietly and rubs his thumb over Dean's knuckles. “Asking,” he clarifies. “I know humans tend to make it into some kind of surprise nowadays, but I doubt it would be the best approach with you. Am I right?”

He sounds a bit teasing and Dean finds himself smiling back tentatively. “Yeah, I guess …”

“So, what do you say?”

Dean takes a deep breath while attempting to organize the racing thoughts in his mind. He never really thought he would be confronted with the issue any time soon, so at first it doesn't seem so easy to find a appropriate reply from the depth of his heart.

Though, if he's being honest with himself, he considered this topic more often since Castiel became a constant part of his life.

Nonetheless he hears himself objecting, “It wouldn't make much sense, y'know? In the eyes of the state I'm a fugitive – or I've been even declared dead; I'm really not sure about that anymore – and _you_ … You don't even exist, Cas. For them, I mean.” He exhales slowly. “We would have to fake some IDs and then – it wouldn't be _real_ anymore. It wouldn't be _us_.”

Castiel's expression softens. “You've thought about this before, haven't you?”

There is no denying it, so Dean simply nods. “Yeah,” he admits. “A few times.”

The very first time when Castiel smote some demon right in front of him, looking all determined and badass, and Dean couldn't keep himself from thinking, _“Damn, I'd like to call you my husband!”_ After that it happened more and more, but Dean never allowed himself to  dwell on it.

It'd have been a pipe dream anyway.

Castiel scoots a bit closer. “But you would want to?”

Dean bites his bottom lip. “Marry you?” For a moment he contemplates downplaying it and letting it be, but watching into Castiel's big and honest eyes makes him realize that the time for cowardice is officially over. And so he declares, “Damn yeah, I'd love to marry you!”

Castiel's following smile is seriously worth it and when he surges forward, kissing the living hell out of Dean, the hunter feels his doubts and insecurities bleed away.

“Then we should do it,” Castiel announces after he eventually pulled back a few minutes later.

Dean, still out of breath, takes a while to gather his thoughts. “But --” he begins, sighing. “I'd love to marry you in theory, but like I said --”

“Dean, for someone living in a world far beyond the average human imagination you can be very narrow-minded sometimes,” Castiel cuts in. “There are _countless_ rituals and ceremonies out there. Angels, for example, are using binding rituals for billions of years now, without ever having social security numbers. There are many ways for us to get married. _Us_. Not some fake IDs.”

Dean feels a hesitant hope blossoming inside of him. “Yeah?”

Castiel nods encouragingly. “By now you should know anything is possible, Dean,” he says. For a minute he seems perfectly happy with smiling gently at Dean and counting his freckles (or whatever he does when he stares at Dean for hours) before he suddenly glides off the bed until he's kneeling right in front of the hunter. “Dean Winchester --”

Dean snorts. “Really, Cas?”

“Yes, I'm serious!” Castiel confirms. “You didn't have a proper proposal and you deserve one. So here I am – remembering your full name because apparently for some reason humans need to make it crystal clear during their proposals that they know their partner's entire name --”

Dean stifles a laugh, enjoying the look of exasperated confusion on Castiel's face that is kinda adorable.

“Dean Winchester,” Castiel announces once again. “Will you marry me?”

Dean doesn't hesitate to pull the angel onto his lap and connects their lips in a deep and sensual kiss while at the same time fighting the urge to stupidly smile into it because he feels so ridiculously happy he can't barely contain himself.

It feels right.

It feels _amazing_.

“So, is this a Yes?” Castiel whispers against Dean's lips.

Dean feels his stomach churn in excitement. “It's _definitely_ a Yes!”

And he can't help but lean in once again and reveling in the feeling.

  
  


* * * * *

  
  


It's about two hours later when Castiel appears in the library, obviously in search of Sam, and the younger Winchester notices instantly that the angel's hair seems a bit more disheveled than before and – more importantly – that he looks completely content and happy.

Like he thinks himself the luckiest guy alive.

And Sam is quite sure he knows exactly where this is coming from. “So we're gonna be brothers-in-law soon, huh?”

Castiel blinks, seemingly a little confused by Sam's words at first, but finally his lips curl up into a smile. “Yes, we will be.”

Sam grins back. “Awesome!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> For more Destiel and Supernatural check out my [tumblr](http://all-i-need-is-destiel.tumblr.com) ^^


End file.
